(a) No person shall abandon, or fail to provide adequate support to:
(1) The person’s spouse, as required by law;
(2) The person’s child who is under age eighteen, or mentally or physically handicapped child who is under age twenty-one;
(3) The person’s aged or infirm parent or adoptive parent, who from lack of ability and means is unable to provide adequately for the parent’s own support.
(b) No person shall abandon, or fail to provide support as established by a court order to, another person whom, by court order or decree, the person is legally obligated to support.
(c) No person shall aid, abet, induce, cause, encourage or contribute to a child or a ward of the juvenile court becoming a dependent child, as defined in Ohio R.C. 2151.04, or a neglected child, as defined in Ohio R.C. 2151.03.
(d) It is an affirmative defense to a charge of failure to provide adequate support under subsection (a) of this section or a charge of failure to provide support established by a court order under subsection (b) of this section that the accused was unable to provide adequate support or the established support but did provide the support that was within the accused’s ability and means.
(e) It is an affirmative defense to a charge under subsection (a)(3) of this section that the parent abandoned the accused or failed to support the accused as required by law, while the accused was under age eighteen, or was mentally or physically handicapped and under age twenty-one.
f) It is not a defense to a charge under subsection (b) of this section that the person whom a court has ordered the accused to support is being adequately supported by someone other than the accused.
(g) (1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, whoever violates subsection (a) or (b) of this section is guilty of nonsupport of dependents, a misdemeanor of the first degree. If the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a violation of subsection (a)(2) or (b) of this section or if the offender has failed to provide support under subsection (a)(2) or (b) of this section for a total accumulated period of twenty-six weeks out of one hundred four consecutive weeks, whether or not the twenty-six weeks were consecutive, then a violation of subsection (a)(2) or (b) of this section is a felony and shall be prosecuted under appropriate State law. If the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a felony violation of this section, a violation of subsection (a)(2) or (b) of this section is a felony and shall be prosecuted under appropriate State law. If the offender is guilty of nonsupport of dependents by reason of failing to provide support to the offender’s child as required by a child support order issued on or after April 15, 1985, pursuant to Ohio R.C. 2151.23, 2151.231, 2151.232, 2151.33, 3105.21, 3109.05, 3111.13, 3113.04, 3113.31, or 3115.31, the court, in addition to any other sentence imposed, shall assess all court costs arising out of the charge against the person and require the person to pay any reasonable attorney’s fees of any adverse party other than the state, as determined by the court, that arose in relation to the charge.
(2) Whoever violates subsection (c) of this section is guilty of contributing to the nonsupport of dependents, a misdemeanor of the first degree. Each day of violation of subsection (c) of this section is a separate offense.
(ORC 2919.21)
(ORC 2919.21)